Acadiana Preserve Offers Hunters Upland Game Experience

By: John K. Flores

 There are indelible images in every person’s mind that nothing compares to. For the sports minded, it might be a game winning walk off homerun, fourth quarter touchdown or three-pointer at the buzzer. For the historian, it might be VJ Day, the breaking up of the Berlin wall or Saddam’s statue falling into the streets of Baghdad.

 For the upland game hunter, nothing compares to a rooster pheasant rising up from a frosty field into the blue sky. As the sun glistens off his iridescent head a kaleidoscope of colors mesmerize your senses. If his gaudy colors don’t get you, the stunning explosion of his wings beating the air and his raucous cackle will.

 Instinctively, you fire your shotgun. As a well-trained English pointer makes the retrieve, you open the stacked barrels of your firearm and remove the spent hull; a swirling ring of light blue smoke drifts upward from the action’s breech. In that moment, everything seems well with the world.

 Upland game hunting is exactly what Mike Guillory, 41, owner of Bayou Teche Hunting Preserve in St. Martin Parish provides. Located off of Highway 31, at Lake Martin, near Breaux Bridge, Guillory offers pheasant, chucker and quail hunting reminiscent of hunting you would normally find in the upper Midwest.

 According to Guillory his business has been growing steadily by offering affordable hunts. “I’ve been in the business for six years,” the soft- spoken Guillory said. “I actually got my start field trialing dogs in Texas. When I saw what guides were charging for hunts I said to myself, ‘I can do that for less than what they charge.’ I try to cater to the more average middle range group - although I do offer corporate hunts. I wanted to let guys experience a simulated hunt of what they would see in the wild at an affordable price.”

 When you book a hunt with Guillory, he doesn’t hand you off to another guide as some outfitters do. He personally guides his clients while handling one of his champion English pointers.

 Guillory also offers unguided hunts for do-it-yourselfers. Guillory said, “Unguided hunts allow hunters the opportunity to train their own dogs or bring a young hunter who is hunting for the first time. I can offer this type of hunt at a reduced price per bird.”

 Transportation to and from the field is provided in a custom built cart with seats set above a dog box towed by a four-wheeler. 

 Besides excellent dog work, hunters of all ages will enjoy the field conditions where birds are set. “We get both young and older hunters out here - we even had one guy in his 90s. I keep lanes cut between the fields to make it easier to walk, while the dogs are working the cover,” Guillory said.

 With a season that runs from October 1 through April 30, there is no limit on the number of birds preserve hunters can harvest. Guillory estimates that in a given season he will put out approximately 4,000 quail, 1,500 pheasant and a couple thousand chucker partridge.

 Guillory also operates a second preserve at Louisiana Flyway Lodge, a full service waterfowl outfitter, located in Kaplan. Guillory said, “Some of the guys from the lodge came over and did a hunt with me and said, ‘can you come over and do this for our guests?’ Now their clients can hunt ducks and geese in the morning and do a mid-day or afternoon pheasant and quail hunt with me.”

 This perfect match allows Guillory to offer complete full service packages with lodging at two locations. In Breaux Bridge, his mother, Mary Lynn Chauffe, is owner operator of the Bayou Teche Bed & Breakfast. Chauffe said, “I obtained the property through a sealed bid with the local church diocese and put in seven years of work before I had my first guest.” Now open for the past six years, the circa 1812 vintage, Acadian home, offers hunters a chance to experience French culture and Cajun hospitality.

 Perhaps what stands out most while hunting with Guillory, is the deep satisfaction he gets from his English pointers. Guillory said, “I train and breed my own dogs and they are not for sale. I currently have eight dogs that I am training and only breed when I need to replenish my stock.”

 Guillory’s pointers are noticeably not large as compared to other dogs you might see in the field. “I like a small dog because they can take the heat better,” He said.

 St. Mary Parish Hunters interested in having an upland game hunting experience they won’t forget, can contact Guillory at Bayou Teche Hunting Preserve by calling him at (337) 332-1608 or by going online to www.bayoutechehuntingpreserve.com Louisiana Flyway Lodge can be reached by calling (800) 215-1965.

If you have an anecdote, comment, recipe or story you wish to share, you can contact John K. Flores by calling (985) 395-5586 or by e-mail: gowiththeflo@cox.net